1929 – 1945 Birthplace: Frankfurt, Germany Diarist who documented the persecution of Jews by the Nazis Author I created "Anne holding her diary" to honor Anne Frank on what would have been her 94th birthday. We remember what hate did, and remind everyone we must learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it. Born Annelies Marie Frank on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany, Anne dreamed of being a journalist. She grew up speaking both Dutch and German. The Nazis came to po

1982-present Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri First African American principal dancer with American Ballet New York Times Bestselling Author As a child facing financial instability, sometimes living in a hotel room as one of six children her single mom worked many jobs to just feed them. At age 13 Copeland and her siblings visited a Boys and Girls Club where ballet teacher Cindy Bradley discovered her and encouraged her to pursue formal ballet training. Very shy and reserved

1973-present Birthplace: Madison, Wisconsin Lawyer Voting Rights Activist Politician Author Served in the Georgia House of Representatives Founder of “Fair Fight” Abrams’ parents participated in civil rights movements and advocated for their six children to participate in education and civic engagement. She grew up in Wisconsin, Mississippi and Georgia as a child. Both her parents became ordained Methodist ministers while Abrams was in high school. In 1991 Abrams w

1964-present Birthplace: Oakland, California District Attorney, San Francisco, California Attorney General, State Of California. United States Senator - California Author 49th Vice President - United States of America Vice President Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California to immigrant parents. Her father came from Jamaica and her mother from India. Her parents exposed her to activism and civil rights demonstrations early on. When Harris was introduced to Supreme Court

1954-present Birthplace: Tylertown, Mississippi First African American student to desegregate an all-white school at 6 years old Civil Rights Activist Author Recipient United States Presidential Citizens Medal 2001 Ruby’s birth year coincided with the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, which ended racial segregation in public schools. Southern states continued to resist integration and in 1959 Ruby attended a segregated N

Katherine Coleman Johnson 1918-2020 Birthplace: White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia Widowed mother of 3 in 1959 remarrying 3 years later Mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics and trajectories for NASA were critical to the success of the first US space flight, Apollo 11 . Author Katherine Johnson’s intelligence and skill with numbers was recognized when she was a child. She was attending high school at age 10, graduating from West Virginia State College with

1913-2005 Birthplace: Tuskegee, Alabama Civil Right icon Presidential Medal Of Freedom Award Author Rosa Parks was home schooled by her mother until the age of 11. She had to leave secondary school to care for her ailing grandmother. At the encouragement of her husband, she finished her high school classes and achieved her diploma in 1933. She became active in defending The Scottsboro Boys , a group of Black men who had been falsely accused of raping two white women in 1931.

1820-22(?)-1913 Birthplace: Dorchester County, Maryland – born into slavery Conductor of the Underground Railroad Soldier Nurse Suffrage Activist Author Harriet Tubman was born to Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross. However, her birth name was Araminta Ross. At age five she was rented out as a domestic servant, at the age of 12 while trying to prevent her enslaver from beating an enslaved man who tried to escape, she was hit on the head with a two pound weight leaving her with